Memorial Day 2004

Well, it’s Friday before Memorial Day. One more day in the office and then it’s… well, it’s actually time to rest up for the month ahead!

I’ll be hitting the road this month, crisscrossing our fine land visiting with the cicadas in Washington, D.C. (and attending a wireless broadband conference); visiting sunny Southern California (and hopefully bringing some much needed rain ahead of a potentially extreme fire season) and ending my marathon in Chicago at the end of the month (where hopefully the rains will have stopped by then).

If all this sounds like fun, I keep reminding myself that there’s still a magazine to publish and there are still looming deadlines everywhere I look.

So with that, it’s back to work, prepping for my June odyssey, and trying to close out my current issue of Internet Telephony magazine.

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Let’s not forget as we set off for this long holiday weekend that Monday is Memorial Day, and Americans all across the country should pause to remember those who served in the military and lost their lives in wartime.

This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, when Allied forces stormed the beaches of Northern France on June 6th, 1944, at five beaches in the Normandy area codenamed: Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach.

I had the honor of visiting the World War II Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel in Colleville-sur-Mer, France last year at this time. It’s a very impressive and humbling moment when you walk from the parking lot past the bronze statue “Spirit of American Youth” and look left.

Row after row of white marble monuments mark the ground in remembrance of 9,386 soldiers, most of whom gave their lives during the landings and subsequent operations of World War II.

If you ever find yourself in Northern France, I urge you to make the trip to visit the cemetery at Colleville-sur-mer. It’s an experience that will stay with you forever.